Never Again
by The Girly Man
Summary: Anger flared inside her as she fell into the dusk, landing sharply on the ground. She felt she had made the right decision. [[Possible spoilers for Volumes 14 and up]]


**Hello there! This one-shot (is the first one I've written without a song in a really long time!) is kinda AU. It's like, a variation of when Haru was all like 'Rin, let's kiss' and then Rin was all like 'Why?' and then Haru was all like 'Cuz we love each other. Isn't that what people do?' So it's different. 'Kay? Possible spoilers. I'm not sure. This is pretty short, so reviews would be appreciated. Like always : )

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**Never Again**

"Rin, why don't you ever laugh?"

Rin looked up at Hatsuharu with an eyebrow raised. When she didn't answer right away, he stared into her eyes and squeezed her hand tightly.

"Haru… you know everything I've been through. Do you really think I want to laugh all the time?"

Both of them stopped walking and absentmindedly noticed they had stopped in the middle of the street. "It's just… I just realized I've never heard your laugh before."

"What a shame," Rin rolled her eyes as they moved to the sidewalk and continued walking.

"It really is," Haru agreed, not noticing her previous sarcasm. "Will you laugh for me?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"For me?"

Rin sighed. "Haru, I can't just MAKE myself laugh over nothing."

"Why not?"

"Because! It's too hard!"

"Well… are you ticklish?"

"Hatsuharu, I swear to God… Don't you dare…"

With a smirk, Hatsuharu reached and hugged Rin before attempting to tickle her sides.

"St-op!" Rin pushed him away with what was almost a laugh until she covered her slip with a cough.

"I made you laugh," Haru smiled.

"No you didn't. That was a cough. And now I'm mad at you."

"What? Oh come on, Rin, I was just fooling around!"

"I told you not to."

"Because you're ticklish."

"Am not!"

Haru was about to "hug" her again before she pushed him away with pleading eyes. "Come on, stop it. I'm not in the mood."

"You're never in the mood for anything," Haru sighed, angry for a minute before Rin sat down again a fence on the sidewalk, her arms crossed over her stomach. "Rin?"

"I don't feel well, Haru. I'm sorry," she replied, closing her eyes tightly and putting her head down.

"Oh, no, that's okay. Really. Do you… Do you want me to get Hatori or someone?"

"…No. He always tells me the same thing. I… just… need… to… lie down… for a little bit…"

"Not on the ground, you're not," Haru told her, picking her up and cradling her in his arms. "My house is down the street. I'll just bring you there for a little bit."

"I'm so pathetic," Rin sighed, squeezing her eyes shut again. "I can't do anything for myself. If you weren't here I would be laying on the sidewalk waiting to die."

"Don't say that. I don't mind doing things for you," Haru smiled down at her. Rin couldn't even smile back.

Once inside, Haru sat down on his living room couch and lay Rin across his lap, resting her head on a pillow. "Do you feel better now?"

"Better…" Rin's voice trailed off as she put a hand to her forehead and opened her eyes. "Hatsuharu… do you love me?"

"Of course I do," Haru replied automatically.

"No, I mean… do you _really_ love me?"

"I love you so much my heart might explode, Isuzu Sohma," Haru smirked again.

"I hate that name," Rin told him, sitting up and draping her arms around his shoulders. She kissed his cheek lightly. "But thank you. So much."

Haru nuzzled her cheek with his nose. "If I get a kiss for every nice thing I could say about you, you owe me over ten thousand kisses," he whispered.

Rin laughed and beamed brightly at him.

"You laughed," Haru pointed out, and Rin giggled again.

"I guess I did," she smiled.

"You are so adorable when you laugh," Haru said out loud—by accident—and they both turned a slight shade of pink.

"Am I really that special? You could say ten thousand nice things about me?" Rin wondered, tears blurring her vision.

"You really are."

Nobody had ever told her that before. Ever.

"Well… I think you're pretty adorable yourself," Rin smiled, touching Haru's cheek and kissing his other side.

"How about this… How about I have to kiss you every time you laugh?" Haru suggested.

"Alright… but now I'll be laughing forever."

"Then why do you keep missing?"

"…what?"

"A kiss isn't really a kiss unless it's on the lips. And you keep kissing my cheek."

Rin smiled. "Oh fine. Have it your way," she sighed before wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her lips deeply against his.

_Never again. I'll never be sad again._

-

"_It was me!" she yelled, backing up. "I started it!"_

_Slap._

"_You see… this is why I hate women," the slithering voice said in her ear, stroking her cheek. "They're always touching things that aren't… theirs."_

Anger flared inside her as she fell backwards into the dusk, landing sharply on the ground.

_It's all my fault…_

She stared up into the sky, ignoring the pain in her back and the hot tears that were sliding down her face. "Haru…" she mumbled, so glad that she was the one laying in the dirt and not him.

She felt she had made the right decision.

_Never again,_ she thought, but for a completely different reason that time. _I'll never be able…_

_To hug him…_

_To touch him…_

_To hold him…_

_To love him…_

_To laugh for him…_

_Ever again._

_I'll never laugh again._

_Never again._


End file.
